Maidenhead Town Hall

File:Maidenhead Guildhall.jpg

A medieval guildhall was constructed in the High Street around 1430 and replaced by a larger guildhall, designed by Theodosius Keene in the Italianate style, in 1777.{{cite book|author1=Elias Kupfermann|author2=Carol Dixon-Smith|title=Maidenhead Through Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sCJVBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT83|date=5 November 2014|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-4456-3853-9|page=83}}{{cite book|author1=Charles Kerry|title=The History and Antiquities of the Hundred of Bray, in the County of Berks|publisher=Published by the author.|url=https://archive.org/details/historyandantiq00kerrgoog|date=1861|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyandantiq00kerrgoog/page/n158 143]}} In the late 1950s, Maidenhead Borough Council decided to demolish the aging 18th guildhall and replace it with a modern facility.{{cite web|url=https://www.sloughexpress.co.uk/news/13548/In-pictures--A--life.html|title=A life-changing year in the life if the mayor|date=27 May 2013 |publisher=Slough & South Bucks Express|accessdate=16 July 2020}}

The site selected for the new building had previously been occupied by a 16th century mansion known as St Ives Place.{{cite web|url=http://windsormuseum.org.uk/collection/postcard-maidenhead-free-library-about-1906/|title=Postcard, Maidenhead Free Library|publisher=Windsor Museum|accessdate=16 July 2020}} King Henry VIII granted St Ives Place to Anne of Cleves for life as part of his divorce settlement with her in 1541.{{cite web|title='Bray with the borough of Maidenhead: Introduction, borough and manors', in A History of the County of Berkshire|volume=3|first1=P H |last1=Ditchfield |first2=William|last2= Page |location=London|year=1923|pages=93–107|publisher=British History Online|url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol3/pp93-107|accessdate=16 July 2020}} In the 18th century, it had become the home of Peniston Powney, the MP for Berkshire{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/powney-peniston-1699-1757|title=Powney, Peniston (1699-1757), of Ives Place, Maidenhead, Berkshire|publisher=History of Parliament|accessdate=16 July 2020}} and by the early 1920s it was owned by another politician, Lord Desborough.

The new building, which was designed by North & Partners and Sir Hubert Worthington in the Neo-Georgian style, was officially opened by the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, in June 1962.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MRXytR8FAJgC&pg=PA174|title=Berkshire|first= Nikolaus|last= Pevsner|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0300126624|page=174}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sloughexpress.co.uk/news/maidenhead/1797/Do-you-have-a-royal-souvenir.html|title=Do you have a royal souvenir for the diamond jubilee exhibition?|date=2 February 2012|publisher=Slough & South Bucks Express|accessdate=16 July 2020}} The Desborough Suite, which was created to offer conferencing and theatre facilities, was named in honour of the former owner of St Ives Place.{{cite web|url=https://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/gallery/maidenhead/151960/combined-charities-fair-in-maidenhead-this-week.html|title=Combined charities fair in Maidenhead this week|publisher=Maidenhead Advertiser|date=4 November 2019|accessdate=16 July 2020}}

The building was used as a location for several of the "Carry On" series of films starting with Carry On Doctor in 1967.{{cite web|url=https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/berkshire-history/maidenhead-town-hall-becomes-hospital-16048214|title=Maidenhead Town Hall becomes a hospital for Carry on Doctor in 1967|date=29 March 2019|publisher=Get Reading|accessdate=16 July 2020}} It was the meeting place of Maidenhead Borough Council until 1974 when it became the headquarters of the enlarged Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council.{{cite web|url=https://www3.rbwm.gov.uk/|title=Welcome|publisher=Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council|accessdate=16 July 2020}} The town hall was extensively refurbished, to a design by McBains Cooper, at a cost of £1.6 million, in 2014,{{cite web|url=https://www.jcoffey.co.uk/projects/maidenhead-town-hall/|title=Maidenhead Town Hall|publisher=J. Coffey|accessdate=16 July 2020}} and proposals for the refurbishment of the Desborough Suite, a cost of £2 million, were approved in 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/maidenhead/143246/desborough-theatre-to-get-2-million-refurbishment.html|title=Desborough Theatre to get £2 million refurbishment|date=29 March 2019|publisher=Maidenhead Advertiser|accessdate=16 July 2020}}

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Category:City and town halls in Berkshire

Category:Buildings and structures in Berkshire

Category:Government buildings completed in 1962

Category:Anne of Cleves